Austin’s public school student population continues to reflect the community’s growing diversity — and for the first time in its history, the district’s non-white student population has exceeded the white student population.

Corey Haugen, director of research evaluation and assessment, called 2018-2019 “a landmark year” due to the shift that, for the first time, was district-wide. He made the comments during Monday’s school board meeting.

“We’ve had (individual) schools with a larger non-white population, but not in the entire district,” he said.

However, in terms of actual numbers, the shift was not dramatic. The white student population fell just below the 50 percent mark in 2018-2019, while last year, it was just above.

Students speaking English remain the largest segment — almost 65 percent — of the 5,226 students who attend Austin Public Schools. Just over 20 percent of the students speak Spanish; the rest, about 15 percent, speak languages other than English or Spanish.

The quickest growth has come in the Asian student population, which now makes up just over 9 percent of the district’s enrollment, Haugen said. Austin’s student Karenni population — students whose families have come from Thailand and Burma, lead the group. Austin’s Karenni students make up 40.4 percent of all Minnesota students who speak Karenni, Haugen said.

Austin’s enrollment dropped by 48 students this year compared to last, he said. That is attributed to a smaller kindergarten class entering the doors this year.

Even so, Austin still has 219 more students than those enrolled two years ago, he said.